'm going to take a few minutes today to honor my colleague, the senior senator from new mexico, jeff bingaman, as he retires from a long career of service to our country. for 30 years, senator bingaman has been a dedicated representative of the people of new mexico, but for those -- for 26 of those years, he was a junior senior from new mexico. the only person that i know of that was a junior senator longer than senator bingaman was fritz hollings. he was a junior senator for many, many decades to strom thurmond. but 26 years here in the senate still makes you a fairly senior member. jeff served alongside senator pete domenici, the longest serving senator in new mexico's history, until in 2009 he was the most senior junior senator. still, mr. president, jeff bingaman has never been one to get hung up on titles or credits. if there were ever the conscience of this body, it's jeff bingaman, a man who has been called by others, including by ron dorgan, a -- including byron dorgan, a workhorse. that's really true. for three decades, he has quietly and with dignity fought for the people o